Something About Reincarnation
by walutahanga
Summary: Celipa is summoned to King Yemma's office, and she's a little confused as to why.
1. Chapter 1

**Something About Reincarnation**

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**Disclaimer:** Dragonball Z is not mine. I make no profit from this. Only a lot of fun and a chance to hone my writing skills.

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"You."

The ogre pointed at Celipa. The female saiyan was faintly startled, as she'd never warranted any extra attention before.

"Yes?"

"King Yemma wands da see you."

This was new. She felt the stirrings of interest. She rose to her feet, stretching her muscles.

"Why?"

The ogre shrugged and grunted, having exhausted whatever meagre intelligence it had giving the order.

"Someding aboud reincarnation."

"Reincarnation?" She thought she was entitled to the shocked tone of her voice. She'd been in hell for nearly twenty years – not long at all, in terms of the afterlife. Some of Hell's inhabitants had been here for centuries.

"You gonna talk or you gonna walk?" The ogre asked. It pounded it's fist into it's meaty palm expressively.

Celipa regarded him flatly for a moment. She stood a fair chance against the ogre, and a fight would be invigorating. She hadn't had a good one in years. But that would mean she wouldn't get to talk to King Yemma and find out what all this was about.

So she turned and walked towards the boundary of hell. The ogre hurried in her wake, scurrying ahead of her. It opened up a door that she could have sworn wasn't there a minute ago, and waved her through.

Inside was an office. Celipa didn't blink. She'd already been here once before, when she died.

King Yemma scowled down at her from his desk.

"Celipa?"

"Yes, sir." She straightened to attention. Yemma might not be a saiyan, but here in the realms of the dead, he was the equivelant of her commanding officer. An exacting, anal-retentive, paper-work-obsessed commanding officer true, but one that was quite capable of pounding her head into the floor. Saiyans respected that sort of thing.

Yemma scowled down at her.

"I'll make it short, saiyan. You've been selected for reincarnation. Congratulations. You will shortly be reborn as a female infant on…"

"Wait just a second!" She blurted the words out without thought.

She caught sight of Yemma's thunderous scowl, and quickly moderated her tone.

"Not that I'm not grateful, sir. But aren't I…isn't it a little…soon?"

Yemma shuffled his papers.

"Well at least you aren't a complete idiot," he muttered, and Celipa fought the urge to knock his teeth in, comanding officer or no. "Under ordinary circumstances, _yes_. Unfortunately, you came through at a time when there's a great built of dead coming through – many of which, may I add, were by your own hand."

He gave her a dark look. She tried to look repentant. It didn't really work. Saiyans didn't really do repentance.

"To make matters worse, I have an entire race of dead saiyans picking fights and scaring my ogres."

Celipa tried very hard not to smirk. Her people weren't exactly the most cooperative of races.

"We need to relieve numbers somewhat, and you're one of the lucky numbers." He jabbed the file with a meaty thumb. "Granted, you participated in a few world purges, but all of you saiyans seem to have at one point or another, and you appear to be the most psychologically ready. You display compassion, insight, and a reluctance to torment your prey before finishing it off…"

Celipa steadily grew redder and redder. She was absolutely mortified. She was very, very glad that none of her comrades were around to hear this, since there was no way to kill them for it, them being already dead and all.

Of course, so long as that file existed, anyone could open it up and see what was written about her. She wondered if there was a way to burn it without completely screwing up her chances at reincarnation…

She realized King Yemma had finished talking.

"Thank you, sir." She forced the words through gritted teeth. A thought occurred to her. "Sir, if I may ask…"

"You may."

"Since the homeworld was destroyed, and there are no more saiyans, what am I going to be re-born as?"

Knowing her record, it was probably going to be some powerless blob of ectoplasm on some third-rate world. If that was what lay ahead of her, she'd take her chances and burn the file.

King Yemma smiled, and it was a particularly nasty smile. Celipa felt her courage slide into her shoes.

"Oh we found a place." He opened the file and flicked through it. Slowly, tauntingly. Her fingers itched. Just one little ball of ki, and that embarrassing record would be gone forever…

"The people bear a very close resemblance to saiyans. Not as powerful, no. Nowhere near as powerful. I doubt your chances of ever becoming a warrior of note. Maybe a scientist. Or a doctor. Maybe even a teacher."

Celipa wanted to scream. Instead she forced the words out;

"Which world. Sir."

King Yemma smirked evilly, in a manner truly worthy of a saiyan.

"Earth."

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**Author's Notes: **Don't worry. There's more coming; this isn't a one-shot by any means! Take a guess at who she's going to be re-born as.


	2. Chapter 2

**Of Haircuts and Full Moons**

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**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z is not mine. I make no profit out of this. Just a lot of fun and the chance to hone my writing skills.

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**Author's Note: **Okay, I feel I should warn you right now. A great deal of this chapter deals with Gohan and Videl's relationship, and they get very physical at times. Why shouldn't they? They're healthy twenty-somethings with a lot of energy and much too pretty for their own good. Good for them. All the more power to them, I say.

However, they are not married at this point in the story, and probably won't be for a while. If that's not your cup of tea, then you should stop reading now.

_BUT_, if you're interested in a really good fic and want to send me lots of helpful feedback (hint, hint), then by all means, read on.

No, it's not graphic (in fact, I'd say it's pretty tame) and yes, it HAS A POINT within the story line.

I love feedback, so click that little button down the bottom of the page and tell me what you think. I haven't seen a lot of the Buu saga, so I'm interested to see how I did with Videl's character.

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It had been Gohan's suggestion to cut her hair.

That was why Videl actually gave it some thought, rather than dismissing it out of hand. She'd always liked her hair, and it had never gotten in her way before. It took more than a cute guy to get her to make such a drastic change.

But the more she thought about the idea, the more she liked it.

Eventually, she went into the hairdresser's and flung herself into the chair.

"Take it off," she ordered.

Slowly, with each snip of the scissors, she relaxed. As each lock of black hair fell to the floor, her reflection seemed to come more and more into focus.

When she walked out of the hairdressers, she felt like a new woman. Or, more correctly, like she'd cast off some sham or illusion, and was now a step closer to her true self.

Although what that true self was, she couldn't say.

---

She kept her hair short for a couple of years. After the Tournament, with her shattering defeat, and that business with Buu, she went into the crime-fighting business with Gohan. Being a superhero was fun, what with the flying, and being able to beat bad guys up. And it kept her and Gohan's relationship fresh.

After thwarting a crime, they'd often grab a bit of privacy and make out like rabid weasles. Videl was sometimes embarrassed by her forwardness, but Gohan seemed pleased. He particularly liked the bite-mark she left on his shoulder oneday.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were a saiyan," he said fondly.

That comment disturbed her, for some reason. She put it to the back of her mind, but it would resurface at odd moments, rephrased, in different wording and different guises, but always the same.

…_a saiyan…_

She knew Gohan's father was a saiyan, and he was part-saiyan, and his little brother. Not to mention the husband of the owner of Capsule Corporation, and their son.

It didn't bother her that Gohan wasn't entirely human. Not much anyway. All it meant was that he was very strong, and he had a few odd idiosyncracies. Like the way he'd make that rumble in the back of his throat when they were snuggling. He swore up and down it wasn't purring, but they both knew perfectly well it was.

She wasn't bothered by it, but that didn't mean she wasn't intrigued by it.

She liked investigating the differences between them. That little spot behind his ear that he liked her to scratch. The enhanced sense of smell that told him as much as his eyes did. The odd, coin-shaped scar at the base of his spine.

One day while she was giving him a back rub (both of them naked after one of their post-battle rendezvous) she touched the scar with her finger.

"Where did you get this?"

She felt him tense up, the muscles in his back going rigid. She suddenly remembered her friend Wendy who had cut her foot open on a creek bed when she was twelve, and now couldn't stand people touching her toes.

She took her hand away and began rubbing his shoulders in big soothing strokes. Slowly, he relaxed.

"That was from when my tail was cut off."

She nearly fell off him. In fact, she actually did, taking half the sheets with her. He sat up with that endearing anxious expression, and peered over the side of the bed.

"Videl, are you okay? You didn't hurt yourself, did you…?"

She stared up at him.

"You had a tail!" She choked out.

She sensed him withdraw into himself.

"When I was little," he said reluctantly. "It had to come off. It made me… cranky."

He gave her a puppy-dog look.

"Are you okay with this?" He asked.

She shook her head wonderingly. It amazed her that Gohan could be so powerful and so smart, and yet be so modest. He genuinely had no idea how wonderful he was.

She stood up.

"I'm fine with it, Gohan. In fact… I'm kind of disappointed you don't still have it." She climbed into his lap with a naughty grin. " Just imagine all the fun we could have had with it."

He laughed between kisses.

"Not…_mmh_… the kind of…_mmph_…you'd like…_ah_…"

And of course, with an intriguing statement like that, she couldn't just let it lie. It took the better part of an hour, but she managed to coax the details out of him. About how his tail had meant that during the full moon he'd turn into a giant monkey and terrorize the world.

"I was lucky, actually. My family made sure I didn't hurt anyone – well no one that didn't deserve it anyway. My dad wasn't so lucky."

He'd been lying on his side, one hand stroking her hair. Now she propped up her chin up on her elbow so she could look him in the face.

"You don't think our kids will have tails, do you?" She asked worriedly.

This time, he was the one to fall off the bed.

"_Our kids_!"

"Oh, relax," she said disgustedly. "I meant our hypothetical kids."

"Oh."

He relaxed and crawled back into bed.

"To be honest, I don't know about the tail. Genetics are a funny thing." He smiled at her worried face. "But in any case, we don't have to worry. There's no moon, remember?"

"Oh, yeah."

The moon had disappeared when she was a little girl. She suddenly had a powerful yearning to see it again. To stand under a full moon, and stare up at that hypnotic white disk…

She drifted off, cradled by Gohan's warmth.

---

When she slept, her dreams were distorted. She sat under a full moon drinking cups of tea with Gohan who had a tail, trying to convince him to go see his son. The only problem was he was more interested in sifting through the tea-leaves at the bottom of his cup.

"See this?" He said. "This clump is shaped like the head of a Namek. This means fertility. It's good. It means the species will survive."

The dream ended when she got fed up and broke the teapot over his head.

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	3. Chapter 3

**The Earrings**

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**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z is not mine. Good thing it isn't – I'd probably turn it into one long soap opera. So just be grateful it belongs to Akira Toriyama.

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**Author's notes: **Whew. This is the fastest I've ever posted a story. Three chapters in two days. I'm on a roll here.

Again, more sex between Gohan and Videl. Not as much as the last chapter. More of a mention, really.

Anddon't forgetto feed the author!

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Videl didn't think about saiyans again until a couple of years later.

She and Gohan had finally tied the knot, and were trying for a baby. In the middle of debating names and finding a good house, the issue of tails had suddenly re-surfaced.

What if the baby had a tail?

Gohan couldn't understand why she was so troubled by it. He was perhaps even a little hurt. He, after all, had been born with a tail, and he turned out fine.

"It's nothing to worry about," he said. "If there is a tail, we'll just have it removed surgically, and the kid will never know any different…"

Videl couldn't quite tell him that that _was_ the problem. How could she explain the discomfort she felt at the idea of cutting off the tail? It would be as much a part of the kid as his (or her) feet or hands. The idea filled her with abhorrance bordering on horror.

Gohan finally suggested she talk to Bulma Briefs, the owner of Capsule Corporation, who was also trying for a baby with her saiyan husband.

It proved to be one of the best ideas he'd ever had.

Videl and Bulma hit it off like wildfire. Despite the age gap, and their unpredictable tempers, they got on really well. With Bulma, Videl finally managed to voice the issue that had been nagging at her.

"…But do I have the right to take it away from him?" she asked. "I mean, there's no moon, so there's no risk, right?"

Bulma had frowned, her spoon clinking against the lip of her mug as she stirred her coffee.

"I guess..."

Videl warmed to her theme.

"I mean, when you look at it, maybe I _shouldn't_ have the tail removed. It's part of the kid's heritage, after all…"

Bulma was silent for a moment.

"Videl, don't tell Vegeta I said this. But the saiyan heritage is probably not one you want for your child. Maybe some things are better left forgotten…"

---

But Videl couldn't forget.

She was very out-of-sorts these days, struck by unpredictable mood swings. She'd be happy one minute, scowling the next. Amorous, then suddenly brusque and distant. She wasn't pregnant – not yet – so she didn't know where this was coming from. Gohan was puzzled, and asked her very gently if she was having second thoughts.

"Of course I'm not!" She snapped. "I said I wanted a baby, and I still do."

Inside, she was just as confused as he was. She had the oddest feeling that something was changing inside her, like black rocks concealed beneath the surface of water slowly breaching.

She had sudden inexplicable urges and inexpressable desires. Anything could bring it on: a certain scent, an odd phrase, the colour of a t-shirt. Often, these moments left her frustrated and hungry for something she couldn't name.

Other times, they were more specific.

The mood struck her when she was out shopping oneday. She'd stopped before a window displaying jewellery, and a set of earrings caught her eye.

They were plain gold. Little rectangles, slightly wider at the base. Nothing special. She'd seen much prettier ones without being tempted to buy. But these she suddenly knew she had to have.

Gohan was very surprised when she came home wearing them. She'd even got her ears pierced just so she could wear them. She posed for him, tilting her head so that the earrings flashed and sparkled.

"You like?"

He did like. Very much. And he demonstrated just how _much_ he liked them by making love to her while she wore nothing but the earrings.

_Hmm. I should wear jewellery more often if this is the reaction it gets…_

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	4. Chapter 4

**Something Missing**

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**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z is not mine. Which is a pity – I'd like to own a Trunks or a Goku. sigh I guess I'll have to wait until I'm rich enough to buy them.

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These days, when Videl looked in the mirror she almost didn't recognise herself.

Her black hair was short and sleek; a stylish cut that she much preferred over the pig-tails of a few years ago. It was set off by the gold earrings that she was now rarely without.

Altogether, it was a very different look from the one she'd had in high school. Then, she'd been a teenager; an inexperienced girl. Now she was a mature woman, and it showed.

Still, something was missing. She couldn't say what it was, but there was something definitely missing.

She sat in front of the mirror several times, trying to work it out. It was irritatingly like a sense of _dejevu_. She couldn't put her finger on what she was trying to do, but she knew it was there. She just had to think of it.

Finally one day it came to her.

"My eye!"

Gohan walked up behind her and kissed the top of her head.

"What about your eye?"

"That's what I'm thinking of. Something needs to go over my eye, like this."

She made a sweeping gesture with her fingers, marking the outlines of something that would fit over her right eye and stay there.

Gohan frowned.

"What kind of something?"

"I don't know!" She clutched her hair in frustration. "Something I can see out of, so it won't interfere with my eyesight. Maybe glass…"

In the midst of her musings, she missed the troubled look on Gohan's face.

"I don't know that I'd like that," he said, moving away. Videl turned to look at him.

"Gohan? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." He tried to wave her off with the famous Son grin, but he was a lousy liar. All the Sons were.

"Gohan." There was warning in her tone, but none in the way she reached out to slip her fingers through his. "Obviously something about my idea bothers you. Could you tell me what it is?"

Gohan sighed, squeezing her fingers affectionately.

"It's just that…you remember that guy Radditz I told you about? My uncle?"

"The one who kidnapped you when you were three."

"Yes. That one. He wore something like that. A saiyan scouter. It was this device that sat over his eye and told him what energy levels his opponents were at."

His words struck a chord in her. Like the strings of a harp, stroked in just the right manner, her soul rippled in harmony. Yes. That was right.

But her attention was taken up by her husband's tormented face. God, what a nightmare to face at three years old…

She kissed him tenderly.

"Think no more about it," she said. "My idea for a lousy fashion statement is now officially over."

He chuckled softly, and hugged her to him.

----

But the idea and the word wouldn't go away.

_A scouter_.

It was a rendundant device, what with the z-fighter's ability to sense ki. Even she could do it now. But she had an intense curiousity to hold the device, to find out what it felt like to wear it.

The only problem was, there were no more scouters. Or there might be, if they'd been salvaged from the fight. She just had to ask the right person.

Gohan was out of the question. She'd promised herself to never bring the scouter up with him again if she could help it.

His little brother Goten liked her and would tell her. Unfortunately, he was a good ten years too young to know much about it.

Chi-Chi might know, but Chi-Chi would also want to know what Videl was up to. The woman acted like Videl's mother in every way, and that included ferretting out things that Videl would rather keep hidden.

Goku would know and would probably tell her, but Videl had the feeling he'd want to know what she was up to as well. She stood somewhat in awe of her father-in-law. He might act the buffoon, but she had seen moments when a serious look came onto his face. She had the feeling that if he ever turned that look on her, she'd blurt out everything she knew, and some things she didn't.

That left the only other saiyan family in the district. The Briefs.

Videl dismissed Vegeta out of hand. They'd met several times, and he'd made no secret of his contempt for humanity in general. Particularly weak earthling females who ran around in ridiculous costumes, striking silly poses and arresting human criminals.

His wife, though…

Videl went to call Bulma.

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	5. Chapter 5

**A Saiyan Heart**

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**Disclaimer: **Just in case you didn't read all the other disclaimers – Dragonball is not mine. Never was, never will be. I make no profit from this.

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**Author's Notes: **This is my favourite chapter so far. Vegeta is so much fun to write! Anyways, we're drawing to a conclusion here.

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Bulma was sorting through some old boxes when Videl arrived.

"Here it is! I'd forgotten I had it until you asked. I put it away to have a look at it later, but what with going to another planet and all, I forgot all about it."

She handed the device to Videl. Videl turned it over in her hands. It was like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle snapping together. There was an almost audible click. This was what she'd been thinking of.

Her fingers were shaking slightly as she traced the blue lense.

"I think there's some charge still left in the battery," Bulma said, still chattering away. "It should still be able to read energy levels, although it won't help if your opponent can hide their ki. What did you say you wanted it for again?"

Videl turned it over, marvelling at the awful feeling of familiarity.

"Curiousity. Gohan told me about them, and I wanted to have a look."

Bulma brightened.

"Well, if you're interested in the relics of old adventures, there must be lots of things lying around. I could have a look…"

In the next room, the phone rang. Bulma huffed..

"Damn. I'll be right back."

She walked into the kitchen, leaving Videl with the old scouter. Videl heard her pick up the phone and exclaim;

"Oh hi, Chi-Chi..!"

They'd be talking for ages, no doubt.

Videl turned the scouter over. Something about it's design. There was something here…

Her fingers found the 'on' button and the screen came alive with numbers and figures. Videl stared down at it, an awful temptation sweeping over her. On the one hand, she very much wanted to put it on. On the other, she couldn't shake the feeling that if she opened this door, she wouldn't be able to close it.

Well, I didn't come this far for nothing… 

She slid the scouter on. Numbers scrolled past the screen in english. That surprised her. For some reason, she'd been expecting…something else. A different language perhaps.

She did a slow scan of the room. No energy levels worth mentioning. How was she supposed to test this thing if there was no one to read?

There was a mirror on the wall. She walked over and stared at her reflection. It was disturbing in a way she couldn't define. Like seeing herself in a twisted mirror. Short black hair, simple earrings, the scouter over one eye. She only needed a smirk, and she'd be the image of an evil saiyan warrior…

She didn't need the sudden flickering of numbers to sense the strong ki behind her. Feeling guiltily like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, she turned around.

Vegeta was standing in the doorway.

He looked taken aback as he stared at her. But also frowning slightly, as if he were trying to place her.

"Sorry," she said, quickly slipping off the scouter and turning it off. Without having to search for the 'off' button, no less. "I just wanted to see what it looked like."

He didn't answer for a moment. He continued to gaze at her with that unnerving flat stare. Then;

"You're Gohan's mate, aren't you?"

Any other woman would have bristled at being called 'mate' rather than 'wife' or even 'girlfriend.' She, however, nodded simply.

"Yes." It felt odd, that single word hanging out there. It felt like she should add something on. Like 'sir' or 'captain' or something.

She almost chuckled. She really _was_ a child with her hand caught in the cookie jar!

"For a moment I thought you were someone else…" Vegeta's lips curved in a smirk and he shook his head dismissively. "Never mind."

He held out his hand for the scouter. It was a distinctly imperious gesture that should have had her spluttering with rage. But she found herself handing it over obediently.

He turned the scouter over, much the same way she had.

"I forgot I had this piece of junk."

Videl watched him. Finally she worked up the nerve to speak.

"Um…Vegeta…not to pry…but who did you think I was?"

He gave her a sharp glance, and for a moment she was certain she was going to be ground to mince-meat, Gohan's mate or no.

Then he shrugged.

"A woman I once met. No one important. Just another third class soldier."

A saiyan. He'd thought she was a saiyan. Videl's throat constricted, even as her body quivered with excitement, and her fingers curled into fists. Something inside her screamed;

Yes! Yes! That's it! That's the answer! 

She ruthlessly suppressed that something. She focused on Vegetta, who was looking at the scouter as if deciding whether or not to crush it.

"What were the saiyans like?" She found herself asking. He looked sharply at her, and she hastened to explain. "I mean, Gohan's a saiyan, but not the same way you are, or even Goku."

Vegeta nodded slowly.

"Very perceptive. For a human."

She swallowed the insult, keeping her silence, waiting for him to speak. Finally he did.

"Gohan is potentially the most powerful creature in the world. Of all worlds. But it takes more than talent to make a fighter. It takes heart."

Videl nodded. It was similar to what her father told her once, in a moment of rare seriousness.

"Gohan's heart is human. He will never be a fighter, not where it counts. But Kakkarott and I… our hearts are saiyan. We will battle and struggle and fight until the end of days. To die in battle is to die gloriously. The only greater glory is to win."

There was a rhythm to his words. A poetry that sucked her in. She was disappointed when he stopped speaking. All that was left were the echoes, dying.

Vegeta was silent for a beat.

"Sometimes I think that your Kami has made a mistake, and put the wrong souls into the wrong bodies. The one called Tien has the heart of a warrior, but is trapped inside the puny body of a human. My son has the power of a thousand generations of saiyans, but his core is soft and human."

He held the scouter for a moment longer, studying it. Then he tossed it to her.

"Keep it," he said. "There's no one left to carry it."

He walked out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Dreams**

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**Disclaimer: **Dragon Ball Z and it's characters are not mine.

**Notes**: Yes! Finally! I was having so much trouble with this one chapter. Dream sequences are so hard, what with the symbolism and all, and I didn't want to force it. Good news is – it should be smooth sailing from here.

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That night, Videl dreamed.

She dreamed she was at the Sons' house. She was seated at the table, Gohan sitting across from her. It was a perfectly ordinary day. The sun was shining cheerfully through the window, Chi-Chi was puttering about making tea and biscuits humming a happy little tune under her breath.

And they all had tails.

No one seemed to think this was unusual. Chi-Chi was even using hers to open the cupboard and take the tea-cups out whilst her hands were busy filling the pot.

As in the way of dreams, Videl decided to relax and go along with it.

However that didn't stop her jumping as something warm and furry wrapped about her ankle beneath the table. She looked up to see Gohan smirking at her. He winked.

"Gohan!" She hissed, shooting a look at Chi-Chi.

Her mother in law didn't seem to have noticed, scooping biscuits from the tray onto a plate.

"What?" Gohan's smirk grew wider, sharp not-quite-human teeth gleaming. "It's not like she's going to know."

His tail slid higher, and Videl fought to keep her cheeks from turning red.

"Here you go!" Chi-Chi set a cup of tea down in front of Videl. She moved about the table, setting out the plate of biscuits and setting another cup of tea in front of Gohan.

"Thank you, Chi-Chi."

Videl didn't dare try to drink the tea with Gohan's tail tickling her in such inappropriate places. Instead, she picked a biscuit from the plate and took a small, lady-like nibble.

"You need more than that," Chi-Chi said fussily. "You need to keep your strength up, you know."

She had seated herself at the end of the table, and was now knitting something bright and red. Her needles clicked steadily as the length of bright red grew. Her furry brown tail coiled elegantly about her own cup and lifted it to her lips so she could sip as she knitted.

"I'm fine thank you," Videl said. She nearly choked on the biscuit as Gohan's tail slid higher up her leg. He grinned at her slyly. She hesitated between seducing her husband or throwing the chair at his head.

Unfortunately, Chi-Chi's presence kept Videl from doing either. The woman remained seated, placidly knitting, apparently blissfully oblivious to what was going on under her nose.

"Are you going to drink that?" Gohan asked, gaze dropping to Videl's tea-cup. His tone was innocent and caring; his eyes said something else altogether.

Videl smiled sweetly.

"In a moment."

The red scarf was now long enough to reach Chi-Chi's lap. Her needles clicked as steadily as the tick of a clock.

"You wouldn't want to let it go cold," Gohan continued.

"No," Videl agreed mildly. "I wouldn't."

Underneath the table, his tail began to rub up and down her thigh; a sensuous motion like a cat begging to be stroked. The biscuit crumbled between Videl's clenching fingers. She had to catch her breath.

To distract herself, she glanced at Chi-Chi and the long scarf that now reached her ankles, pooling on the floor in bright red folds.

"Isn't it a little long?" Videl asked.

Chi-Chi blinked as if just noticing.

"Why so it is!" She smiled brightly. "Nevermind, I know how to fix it."

Smile never fading, she stood and stabbed the knitting needles into Videl's eye.

xxxXxxx

Videl awoke with a gasp.

She sat up, hands flying to her right eye. No warm stickiness coming away on her palm that would mean blood. No shooting pain through her eyesocket. Her eyelid was warm beneath her fingertips, the eye swivelling smoothly underneath.

It had just been a dream then. She let out a shaky breath of relief.

The room was dark. She could make out the familiar shapes of furniture in the gloom. She reached out with her senses, checking the darkness like a child making absolutely sure that there were no monsters under the bed. The only presence near was Gohan slumbering soundly beside her, his ki muted in sleep.

The dream had been the most disturbing she'd ever had – worse than the ones she'd had about Cell as a little girl, watching her father go off to fight. As she reluctantly remembered the details – the knitting needles and Chi-Chi's smiling face – a sick feeling churned in her stomach.

She threw back the covers and ran for the ensuite. She dropped to her knees in front of the toilet and vomited into the white basin.

When it was over, she knelt on the cold tiles, their chill cooling her over-heated flesh. A thousand differend emotions churned within her. Lingering nausea. The backwash of fear and adrenaline…

…and something else altogether…

xxxXxxx

"Videl?"

Gohan switched the bathroom light on.

"Videl, are you okay?"

His wife was crouched over the toilet. Her face was turned away from him, her hair sweeping forward in an impenetrable veil.

Gohan gazed worriedly at her. He'd known something was going on with Videl recently. Whenever he'd tried to talk to her about it, she'd bitten his head off. He felt helpless – an alien feeling for him. He didn't know what was bothering her, and he couldn't help her with it.

Finally Videl turned to face him. Her face was pale, but there was a gleam in her blue eyes that he'd never seen before. A burning light that illuminated her pale features.

"Yes, Gohan," she said. "I'm better than okay."

She wiped her mouth and laughed at his uncomprehending expression.

"Morning sickness!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Revelations**

---

**Disclaimer:** Dragon Ball Z is not mine, never has been, and never will be.

---

The next few days – after buying a pregnancy test and watching the stick turn blue – were spent telling all their friends and family.

Chi-Chi had burst into tears, and hugged them both to her so tight that they'd struggled to breathe. Then she'd bustled about making some cookies, refusing to let Videl lift a finger, every so often bursting out into happy little sobs.

Goku had taken it with his usual wide-eyed wonder.

"Wow, I'm a grandfather?"

He'd put his hands on Videl's stomach to sense the life inside.

"It's small now," he said. "Give me another couple of weeks and I'll be able to tell if it's boy or girl."

Twelve year old Goten was singularly unimpressed by it all. He liked the cookies, though.

---

Bulma was delighted for her. Vegeta had shrugged and said;

"Another brat?"

And although she'd smacked Oolong for saying as much, Videl found herself keeping her mouth shut, not retaliating with her usual ire.

Bulma, thankfully, had done it for her.

"Vegeta, you jerk!" She screeched. "If you act like this when I get pregnant, just you see who'll be sleeping on the couch!"

Amusing as it was to watch Vegeta smirk and Bulma fume, Videl felt profoundly disturbed by the visit. Perhaps it was the sudden compunction to stand at attention, or bow before leaving Vegeta's presence.

Thankfully, she'd managed to keep herself from doing any of it. She'd kept herself firmly seated, both hands wrapped around the teacup, her lips shut with the effort not to add any insults – or, Kami help her, honorifics – that her subconscious might throw up.

She'd been so quiet, Gohan was worried about her and asked her afterwards if she wanted to go home.

"No," she said. "We've just got one more stop, don't we? Piccollo's."

Usually she maintained a healthy distance from the Namek. It wasn't that she was afraid – fear, her ass! It was prudence that kept her a healthy distance from the Devil-King.

But it also occurred to her that the Devil-King had once also been God, and knew certain things that mortals (no matter how powerful) might not…

xxxXxxx

Piccollo was meditating in the courtyard, floating several feet above the ground, legs crossed in the lotus position.

"Hello, Gohan," he said without opening his eyes. "I see you brought your woman along."

Videl was used to Piccollo's dismissal of her – it didn't mean she liked it.

"Well, _this woman_," she said sarcastically, folding her arms. "Happens to be the bearer of good news."

She looked at Gohan.

"May I tell him, sweetie?"

At Gohan's nod, she turned back to Piccollo and announced with relish;

"We're having a baby."

Piccollo finally opened his eyes. He regarded them both for a long moment, and Videl couldn't read his expression.

"Another saiyan brat," he said at last. "I suppose it was inevitable."

"Aw, come on, Picollo," Gohan said. "You can do better than that."

Against his worser nature, the Devil-King smiled grudgingly at Gohan.

"Fine. Congratulations. You'll have another warrior in the family if you don't let that harpy soften him up first."

Videl bristled until she realized that Chi-Chi was the harpy, not her. She didn't know why Gohan allowed Piccollo to insult his mother like that, but then he let Piccollo get away with a lot of stuff. Insulting his father, his species, his vocation… even his wife on occasion.

The thought aggravated her temper, and she cleared her throat before she could do something like yell at them both.

"Piccollo, do you mind if I get a drink of water?" She asked. "I'm a little thirsty from the flight over."

"It's a free country."

Videl bared her teeth in what could have been mistaken for a smile, and turned to Gohan.

"Gohan, honey?" She said sweetly. "Would you mind…"

"Of course."

He darted into the kitchen. Or what passed for a kitchen. Videl had been here before, and all Piccollo kept were some drinking glasses. Namek didn't eat, so he had no use for the appliances that most humans were reliant on.

Alone at last, Videl turned to the Namek and dropped the sugar-sweet tones for more business-like ones.

"Piccollo, I need to ask you something."

He turned to glare in her direction. She refused to be intimidated.

"Something about…reincarnation?"

Her voice petered out towards the end. Not out of fear, but because she'd remembered how ridiculous this all sounded.

Piccollo gazed at her a moment longer, then turned his head and yelled;

"Gohan!"

Her husband poked his head out of the kitchen.

"I need to speak to your wife alone. Get lost for half an hour."

Gohan looked puzzled, but not worried.

"About what?"

"The secrets of childbirth," Piccoloo said dryly. "Now beat it."

Gohan shrugged and grinned.

"I'll be fishing.Yell if you need me."

He vanished out the door.

Piccollo turned back to Videl. Now that it was just the two of them, she could read a wariness in his posture. He wasn't certain of her. That in itself was…

…interesting.

Piccollo was _never_ uncertain. Full stop. Videl was very confident in her own abilities, but even she had trouble believing that a weak human could in any way intimidate the Namek warrior. So what was it about her that he regarded as threatening?

The thoughts felt oddly alien. Detached. They felt like they came to her echoing across a great emptiness, floating like bubbles to the surface of water. She was never that calculating. Angry, yes. Cruel on occasion. But never this cold, deliberate analysis.

"How much do you know?" Piccollo asked bluntly.

Videl gazed back at him steadily, not wanting to part with any information before he did.

"How much do _you_ know, Namek?"

The word slipped without thought from her lips. Piccollo cursed under his breath. He grabbed her by the back of her shirt and lifted her off her feet. She suddenly knew how annoyed must cats be, being carted about by the scruff of the neck.

His clawed fingers pinched her chin as he stared into her eyes. She glared back dangerously. If he didn't have knowledge she desperately wanted, she'd be breaking his nose right about now – well giving it a damn good try anyhow.

Whatever, he was searching for, he didn't like what he found. His jaw clenched, and he dropped her as one would something rather distasteful.

"I warned that old fool this could happen," he muttered. "But would he listen to me? Oh no, he goes on about inputs and outputs, and sustainable growth…."

Videl wasn't hurt, as she'd landed on her feet like a cat, and it took a lot to dent her admittedly substantial ego.

"You knew me?" She said, hardly believing her good luck.

He shot her a dark look.

"Not personally," he said. "Good thing too – it wouldn't have ended well."

He flexed his hands as if imagining her neck snapping between them. She ignored his threats, too focused on the knowledge held tantalizingly out of reach.

"But you just said you knew me."

"I knew of several saiyans assigned for re-birth on earth. Doesn't mean I knew each and every one of them personally."

She stared at something beyond him, eyes glazed.

"I _was_ a saiyan," she breathed. "I was right."

"Don't be too happy," he snapped. "In fact, don't get happy it all. It's not something to be proud of."

Videl had never claimed to have the most peaceful of temperaments. When her species – even _former_ species – was insulted she considered it only right that she defend them.

"Gohan's a saiyan," she said sharply. "And you don't hold it against him."

"_He_ didn't participate in planet-wide genocides."

A muscle ticked in her jaw.

"Well I didn't either!"

Picollo was silent for a long moment, regarding her with something like amusement.

"You don't remember, do you?"

When she refused to answer, he continued in a somewhat gentler vein.

"Some things are best forgotten, saiyan. You have a new chance at life. Don't waste it on a race that's dead and gone."

Her head snapped up, and she glared hostiley at him.

"My race is here."

She laid her hand over her belly, felt the faint ki signature deep within. She might not be saiyan, but her children would be. They wouldn't grow up in the ignorance their father had. Oh no. She'd teach them everything she knew about saiyan culture…just as soon as she remembered it, that is.

Picollo was now regarding her with the same considering look. With a chill, she recognised that look – though she wasn't entirely sure where she knew it _from_. It was the look of a person deciding whether or not to tuck an annoyance into a discreet grave.

She watched him warily, muscles tensed for flight and ready to yell for Gohan at a moment's notice. She might not stand a chance against Piccollo, but her husband could squash him like a bug.

Finally Piccollo looked away with a sigh.

"I blame this on Yemma," he said flatly. "You should never have been resserected so soon. You should have stayed in Hell for at least another century." He shrugged philosophically. "But that's what you get for cutting corners…"

"I was in Hell?" Videl said in a small voice.

Piccollo rolled his eyes.

"Where else would a saiyan go?" He said, tone suggesting she was an idiot.

She reeled, too shocked to respond to the insult.

"But _why_ would I go to Hell? What did I do?"

Piccollo shrugged.

"Like I said. Murder, maim, genoicide. The usual."

She latched onto that uncertainty.

"So you don't know for certain?"

"I don't need to. It's what saiyans did."

His voice was matter-of-fact. She shook her head, refusing to believe it. She'd heard Gohan's stories of saiyans spreading death and destruction, but surely they'd been exaggerated. And not all of them could have participated, surely.

_I wouldn't…I couldn't have…_

"There has to be a way to know for sure," she said. She eyed him speculatively. "What if I went the Otherworld and asked?"

"And how exactly do you propose to get there – aside from the obvious, I mean."

"You used to be Kami. You could take me there."

He folded his arms and did his best 'loom.'

"Firstly," he said. "I like you about as much as I like Vegeta. I'm not doing you any favours – I don't care whose wife you are. Secondly, even if I took you there, do you have any idea of the kind of paperwork you'd have to go through to get an answer to a question like that?"

"_Paperwork_?"

Her idea of the Otherworld had just undergone a drastic upheaval. He snorted in amusement at her expression.

"The Otherworld isn't Heaven, little girl. You'll find beurocracy is not just a human failing. "

"So you _will_ could take me there?"

"_No_."

Well, it had been worth a shot.

"Fine then. I'll find a way myself."

They glared at one another, neither willing to back down. She knew as well as he did that any other way she found was bound to be extremely dangerous. And although she was the reincarnated member of a race that he despised, she was still Gohan's wife and the mother of his child.

At least a minute passed before Piccollo snarled in defeat and snapped;

"Go talk to Goku."

Videl's triumph lasted only for a moment before the implications of that advice sunk in.

"What?" She had never squeaked before, but she managed it now.

"Goku," Picallo repeated, looked irritated. "He has instant transmission. He'll be able to take you to the Other Dimension in a moment. And King Yemma likes him, so you'll be able to jump the cue."

"But…"

He raised an eyebrow at her as she stuttered.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of _Goku_," he said disgustedly.

"I am –" _saiyan_ "– the daughter of Hercule. I fear nothing!"

It would have been more impressive had she not added in a small voice;

"He just… gets this look on his face...and…"

Piccallo sighed.

"Girl, think about it. You just tried to pick a fight with the Devil-King. Talking to your father-in-law should be a piece of cake."

Well, when he put it like that…


End file.
